Ampol will receive $8m in federal funding to advance the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at its Brisbane refinery.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) grant will be put towards a $30.2 million Brisbane Renewable Fuels Pre-FEED Study.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said a further $6.1m would be provided to GrainCorp to support a $19.8 million SAF Oilseed Crushing Facility Pre-Deployment Study.
Mr Miller said both projects represented an important step towards developing a pipeline of projects that could support the reduction of aviation sector emissions.
“Aviation is a persistently challenging industry from an emissions reduction perspective,” he said.
“With Australians being among the most prolific flyers in the world, decarbonising this high emissions industry will be vital for us to achieve our net zero targets.”
Mr Miller said the Ampol study would investigate developing a renewable fuels facility of greater than 450ML p.a. for SAF and renewable diesel production at the company’s Lytton refinery, east of the Brisbane CBD.
He said 450ML of SAF would be equivalent to almost five percent of 2019 (pre-COVID) fossil jet fuel consumption.
“The funding will support Ampol to undertake its Pre-FEED engineering for Ampol’s Brisbane Renewable Fuels facility.”
Ampol CEO Matt Halliday said the funding would further the company’s investigations into establishing a domestic renewable fuels capability.
Mr Halliday said that capability would create benefits in energy security, support regional development and stimulate agriculture and manufacturing industries.
“The combination of Ampol’s existing liquid fuels infrastructure and capabilities, the expertise of our MOU partners … along with ongoing Government support, has the potential to create a national renewable fuels ecosystem and unlock Australia’s competitive advantage in infrastructure, technical expertise and the availability of raw materials.”
